Astrolab will send its uncrewed FLIP rover to the lunar south pole later this year, carrying Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Spaceborne Computer-4. As part of NASA’s Griffin Mission 1, the mission will be the first to test high-performance computing, GPUs, and artificial intelligence experiments directly on the moon’s surface.
We’re sending the first supercomputer from HPE to the lunar surface later this year, doing the first GPU on the moon and the first AI experiments on the moon,
said Jaret Matthews, founder and CEO of Astrolab. The FLIP rover will establish a new benchmark for space-based data processing.
Spaceborne Computer-4 Survives the South Pole
The Spaceborne Computer-4 is a fanless, compact module. It is built from heat-conductive aluminum to survive the conditions of the lunar south pole. The hardware features a low-power 64-bit CPU paired with a GPU. For memory storage, it relies on solid state drives from the company KIOXIA.
Thermal management is a primary concern. The computer will connect to FLIP’s cooling system and draw power from the rover’s solar cells and batteries. Once it reaches the Moon, the Spaceborne Computer 4 will power the FLIP rover’s AI and HPC experiments.
AI Experiments Solve Lunar Localization
The mission aims to solve the lack of GPS on the lunar surface. The SBC4 will run a machine learning algorithm developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This software was previously used on Mars.
One of the experiments [that will be] running on the spaceborne computer on the moon is a localization software experiment from JPL. It has been used on Mars, and this will be the first time it’s used on the moon,
Jaret Matthews, founder and CEO of Astrolab
The mission will also test the deployment of scalable AI service applications via an AI services container. This aims to demonstrate that such applications can be deployed reliably on the moon.
Rover Endures Full Lunar Year
NASA requires the platform to be designed for a full year on the lunar surface. This forces the rover to endure extreme environmental stressors.
- Lunar Nights: Surviving multiple lunar nights, upwards of 150 hours of complete darkness where energy or warmth is not received from the sun.
- Semi-Autonomy: In the absence of astronauts, the rover must be capable of semi-autonomous operation, covering hundreds of kilometers over several months.
- Thermal Stress: The computer is built with heat-conductive aluminum and designed with the specific conditions of the lunar south pole in mind.
Griffin-1 Carries Multiple Payloads
The FLIP rover is slated to land near the Mons Mouton area at the South Pole’s edge before this year concludes. It is transported by the Griffin-1 lander. Astrobotic created the lander for NASA as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
FLIP is not the only payload on the flight.
- CubeRover: Astrobotic’s CubeRover, a small, uncrewed rover.
- LandCam-X: An optical navigation system.
- Nanofiche GLPH: Nanofiche GLPH (Galactic Library to Preserve Humanity), a tiny archive of human history.
The technology tested on FLIP has long-term applications. NASA’s CLV-1 rover is scheduled for a 2028 launch. It is intended to use the same wheels found on FLIP.
Our FLIP rover is designed to accommodate a variety of payloads, and this mission will demonstrate how commercial lunar mobility platforms can support technology development and scientific research.
Jaret Matthews, founder and CEO of Astrolab
HPE has spent years building orbital compute platforms for the International Space Station (ISS). Now, the company is deploying its fourth-generation Spaceborne Computer to the Moon via Astrolab’s Flex Lunar Innovation Platform (FLIP) lunar rover. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is expected to launch FLIP and Spaceborne Computer 4 later this year. Astrobotic’s Griffin-1 lander will deliver them to the lunar south pole.
If the landing is successful, FLIP will act as a testing ground for the most recent space-faring compute platform from HPE. Since the Apollo program’s manned Moon buggy, FLIP will be the largest rover the US has launched.
The mission aims to prove that versatile platforms can advance future lunar exploration and expand space-based scientific discovery.